This past July 4 weekend, there was so much to do between the family BBQs and the various fireworks displays and parties.

How lucky are we to have Atlantic City, Ocean City, Brigantine and other beach towns right in our back yards? Within 30 minutes we can be at any of these area beaches.

In today’s economy, money is tight, and although there are great deals on travel, sometimes a “staycation” is what we need instead. My hubby decided to have us do a “staycation” in Margate for the July 4 weekend. At first, I was a little bummed because I wanted to get away and relax where no one knew our names. But, of course, I had to go with the flow, and let me tell you, it was a very relaxing weekend.

On our trips to the beach, I put my chair close to where the water meets the sand, and just sat there and looked at the ocean. I thought to myself, “Wow, I actually feel like I am on vacation right now.” More people should try to get out to the beach at least once this summer. It may not feel like you are getting away when going to a local beach, but once you are there, you can truly have that relaxing vacation feeling.

The big plans for the July 4 evening were to figure out where to watch the fireworks. This year we were very fortunate because a good friend who has a boat docked at the Trump Marina invited us to watch the fireworks over The Borgata and Harrah’s Resort. We haven’t been on a boat in years, but we took him up on the offer and boy were we glad we did.

It was extremely relaxing just to sit there and take in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery — so much so that the “social” me was too busy relaxing to be outgoing. No matter where you were to catch the Atlantic City fireworks, you probably had an excellent view, and the fireworks were sensational, including heart shapes and smiley faces exploding in the air!

In addition, for someone like me who is not a big nature person and who likes to stay in when it’s nice out, and who always has to be connected and busy doing something, it was a great feat to be able to unwind this weekend on my staycation. I could certainly get used to the boating culture, too, which is very new to me.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was spent eating and watching my friends check into different areas using a new social networking concept called Foursquare. Oy, as if, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter aren’t enough, now there is Foursquare. According to crunchbase.com, “Foursquare is a location based social network that incorporates gaming elements. Users share their location with friends by ‘checking in’ via a smartphone app or by text message. Points are awarded for checking in at various venues. Users can connect their Foursquare accounts to their Twitter and Facebook accounts, which can update when a check-in is registered. By checking in a certain number of times, or in different locations, users can collect virtual badges. In addition, users who have checked in the most times at a certain venue will be crowned ‘Mayor’ until someone surpasses their number. Various venues have embraced Foursquare, and offer special deals to users who are ‘mayors.’ Foursquare has applications for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.”

Many friends of mine who are sharing a summer house in Ventnor were bragging about their “Mayorships” this weekend — even around the house. It was too funny watching them check in to the kitchen or the zula (a.k.a. the porch). Some other places that they checked into ran the gamut from their favorite place on the beach to hot spots like Ventura’s and the Chelsea. Plus every time they check in, an alert goes out to all of their friends who are on other social networks. In a way it could be a dangerous safety issue for people to know where you are at all times, but I guess looking on the bright side, maybe someone you know will be in that same place at the same time and you can hook up.

As for the benefit of the Mayor title, I still haven’t figured that out yet.

Dishing out advice on various topics to our readers on issues related to networking, dating, employment, news, events, shopping and much more. She is the current president of the Greater Atlantic City Jaycees and owner of www.GoToWhitney.com.

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Whitney Ullman

Whitney is an on-air multimedia personality, and works behind the scenes helping businesses gain extra exposure, through her WIN Promotions video production services.

She is an Entertainment Reporter with work featured on Explore New Jersey, The Marc Berman Radio Show & Occasionally FOX29 Good Day Philadelphia. She is the former Host & Co-Producer of Access AC Live and covered Atlantic City Entertainment for NJ.com. As a freelance writer, Whitney's columns were published in multiple press outlets including: GoJaneNews.com The Atlantic City WeeklyNew Jersey Lifestyle Magazine &The Boardwalk Journal just to name a few.

She is the former host of the Entertainment Minute which aired on the NBC40 News and was featured twice on FOX's Chasing New Jersey.